Way back in 1986, The Blake Babies were born in Boston and became one of the bands responsible for introducing modern indie pop-rock to a whole new generation.

A trio comprised of mere teen-agers, The Blake Babies launched the musical careers of drummer Freda Love, guitarist John Strohm and singer/guitarist Juliana Hatfield, who went on to become, for a time, an alt-pop darling with her 1993 solo album ''Become What You Are.''

With an irresistible vulnerability and a biting edge, Hatfield fronted the band that took its musical timing from peers like Dinosaur Jr. and the Lemonheads, and its lyrical cues from folks like The Carpenters and the Mamas and the Papas.

Then, after five years of steady college radio play, the band dissolved and went their separate ways.

Until now.

''God Bless The Blake Babies'' is the first release from the band since 1991's ''Rosy Jack World,'' and Hatfield says it's a slight departure from the band's early days.

The Blake Babieswith AM, Kitty Snyder

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Where: 40 Watt Club

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''It's different, more mellow,'' she says in that breathy, little girl voice that made her famous. ''It's like The Blake Babies on Valium.''

While the album is indeed a refined piece of work from rockers who took their first steps bathed in limelight, it still bears the mark (and semi-heavy guitar work) of that early Boston sound.

Corresponding with Strohm in Alabama and Love (now Love Smith) in Indiana, Hatfield wrote lyrics to music that would eventually be laid down in 10 days at Echo Park Studio in Indiana.

''It was weird, but fun,'' she says. ''It was as if no time had gone by.''

The music is nostalgic for those days, particularly on songs like ''Until I Almost Died'' and the Hatfield/Evan Dando (former surfer dude, and front man of the Lemonheads) duet ''Brain Damage.''

And Hatfield still writes like the pissed-off cheerleader, only more willing to admit that sometimes the answers aren't at her demand.

''When you don't have anything to say/You can make it up,'' she writes in ''Civil War.''

''That song was basically written because I had this music and couldn't find the lyrics,'' she says. ''It's about confusion and the inability to communicate sometimes.''

Ain't adulthood grand?

Despite finding themselves now in their mid-30s, Hatfield says the music is what made it possible for her to reunite with Love and Strohm for this latest release.

''Playing music is a fun, almost childish thing to do,'' she offers. ''That childish side of us is preserved for all time.'' Her favorite song on the new album is one written by Love called ''Nothing Ever Happens.''

This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, May 17, 2001.